Short Interest in O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) Drops By 19.3%

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:ORLY) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 935,900 shares, a drop of 19.3% from the October 15th total of 1,160,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 324,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORLY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,337.00 price target on shares of O’Reilly Automotive in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Roth Capital raised shares of O’Reilly Automotive to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,200.00 price target on shares of O’Reilly Automotive in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $986.00 to $1,088.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of O’Reilly Automotive from $1,215.00 to $1,230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, O’Reilly Automotive presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,242.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other O’Reilly Automotive news, Director Lawrence P. Oreilly sold 13,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,119.52, for a total transaction of $15,410,192.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 141,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $158,511,717.28. This trade represents a 8.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher Andrew Mancini sold 1,557 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total transaction of $1,751,625.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,322 shares of company stock worth $18,280,698 in the last three months. 1.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On O’Reilly Automotive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORLY. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of O’Reilly Automotive by 6.1% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,384 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,562,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in O’Reilly Automotive by 9.7% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 462 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in O’Reilly Automotive in the first quarter worth $254,000. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in O’Reilly Automotive by 1.1% in the first quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its position in O’Reilly Automotive by 14.0% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.00% of the company’s stock.

O’Reilly Automotive Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ORLY traded down $11.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1,213.37. 437,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 367,720. O’Reilly Automotive has a 1 year low of $914.50 and a 1 year high of $1,255.30. The company has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,170.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,094.85.

O’Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ:ORLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $11.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.53 by ($0.12). O’Reilly Automotive had a net margin of 14.52% and a negative return on equity of 155.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.72 EPS. O’Reilly Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that O’Reilly Automotive will post 40.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

O’Reilly Automotive Company Profile

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer and supplier of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The company provides new and remanufactured automotive hard parts and maintenance items, such as alternators, batteries, brake system components, belts, chassis parts, driveline parts, engine parts, fuel pumps, hoses, starters, temperature control, water pumps, antifreeze, appearance products, engine additives, filters, fluids, lighting products, and oil and wiper blades; and accessories, including floor mats, seat covers, and truck accessories.